2836 AM · 925 BCE · world history
The Campaign of Shoshenq in Canaan
A pharaoh of the Libyan dynasty marches through the cities of Canaan and leaves a list of the conquered.
Shoshenq I had gathered a fragmented Egypt and set out to remind the neighbours of its strength. His army marched up the coastal road and through the valleys, taking tribute from the towns; at Megiddo a fragment of a stele bearing his name was found. On a temple wall at Karnak is carved a list of more than a hundred and fifty subdued places—the oldest Egyptian document that connects directly with the events of the biblical narrative of the divided kingdoms. No lasting conquest came of it: Shoshenq soon died, and Egypt returned to its own quarrels.
Sources
Documents of the period
- Egyptian royal inscriptions and king lists — the list of conquered towns on the wall at Karnak and the stele fragment from Megiddo
Scholarship
- archaeology of the Nile valley — the campaign set beside the Tanakh’s account of Shishak
Basis: documents and evidence.